Raise the Titanic

Baker & TaylorTwo Russian spies and a violent hurricane hinder Dirk Pitt's herculean efforts to raise the R.M.S. Titanic and thereby salvage the world's only supply of a rare metal, needed for a secret American defence system

Simon and Schuster

The President's secret task force develops the ultimate defensive weapon. At its core: byzanium, a radioactive element so rare sufficient quantities have never been found. But a frozen American corpse on a desolate Soviet mountainside, a bizarre mining accident in Colorado, and a madman's dying message lead DlRK PITT~ to a secret cache of byzanium. Now he begins his most thrilling, daunting mission -- to raise from its watery grave the shipwreck of the century!

In a daring gamble, DIRK PITT locates the Titanic -- and suddenly his crew is in deadly jeopardy. Sabotaged by Russian spies and savage storms, Pitt must stop a diabolical plan for Soviet world supremacy -- or see the mighty Titanic blasted out of existence!

When it is discovered that a precious substance has been placed in the hold of the ship before it sank it is determined that it must be located which is a HUGE challenge. Then the Russian military gets involved!

Leave it to Cussler to throw in the book a million historical facts and still use as a mixer a long-dead cold war, a natural disaster of never-before-seen proportions, and a dame in distress that falls in the arms of the hero in the midst of a resurrected ship. I guess that's what makes the author special. Pretty fun and exciting read